by Gabe Lacques, USA TODAY Sports

by Gabe Lacques, USA TODAY Sports

TAMPA - It's almost certain the New York Yankees will eventually field a lineup that includes Derek Jeter at shortstop, Curtis Granderson in center field, Mark Teixeira at first base - and maybe even Alex Rodriguez at third.

But an offseason in which the club allowed 112 home runs from its 2012 lineup to vanish via free agency and Rodriguez's hip surgery has been followed by a devastating spring.

The latest blow was announced Wednesday, when the Yankees revealed Teixeira will be out at least eight weeks and probably longer with a strained right wrist suffered hitting off a tee Tuesday.

That means Granderson and Teixeira - two-thirds of the heart of the lineup - will likely be out through mid-May.

"You gotta find a way, right?" general manager Brian Cashman said Wednesday. We'll just have to do without Teix and Grandy. It's March 6. A lot can happen between now and April."

While few tears will be shed for a team with an American League-high payroll of $206 million, concerns are growing the club will have enough offense to get by after years when it counted heavily on the home run.

And now the Yankees must ponder how to match the 804 runs they scored last year, when they won 95 games and narrowly claimed the AL East.

"I know we lost a lot of power in the offseason. We knew that going in," starting pitcher Andy Petttitte told USA TODAY Sports. "Now, you talk about losing Teixeira and Granderson at the start of the season, it changes things even more. Bottom line is, I still feel like we're going to figure out ways to score runs, and that's going to be on our offense and Joe to figure out how to do that, and be creative in different ways."

That will be a new tack for the Yankees. Their 245 home runs were 31 more than any major league team, and marked the third time in four years they led the majors in longballs. Now, the concern is not so much the homers lost from Rodriguez's hip surgery and the departures of Nick Swisher, Russell Martin, Eric Chavez and Andruw Jones.

Rather, it's how will the wrist hamper Teixeira - who hit 24 homers in 123 games last year - when he returns? And how long will it take Granderson to revive a power stroke that produced a team-high 45 home runs in 2012, only to have him suffer a fractured right forearm when he was hit by the first pitch he saw this spring?

"I'm obviously worried about it," Yankees general manager Brian Cashman told reporters Tuesday night. "Wrists are very unpredictable. Even if you can get a positive diagnosis back - which of course we're going to hope for - that still doesn't mean we're out of the woods, because wrists are tricky.

Wednesday morning, Granderson exuded his usual eternal optimism bubbling despite the soft cast that extended down his forearm to his fingers.

But his mood briefly dimmed when he learned the nature of Teixeira's injury, having only seen on a television graphic that the first baseman would miss a couple of weeks.

"A wrist? Ooh," Granderson said, with a grimace. "Damn. Hopefully he'll be back sooner rather than later."

But when both Teixeira and Granderson return, the nature of their injuries figure to hamper them for some period - particularly their power production.

"I've got to swing, and how is that going to be since it is the pull hand? The good thing is, it's not any of the wrist bones, so nothing has to rotate. Once that locks in, it should be good."

Teixeira is not as fortunate. Any extended absence would further force the Yankees to rely on veterans expected to play bit roles, like DH Travis Hafner, outfielder Juan Rivera and utilityman Eduardo Nunez.

As for Jeter? His 2012 ended in grim fashion when he suffered a fractured ankle in Game 1 of the AL Championship Series. He's been about the only source of good news in this camp, as he only has to run the bases at full speed to be cleared for game action. That may happen this weekend, and Jeter remains confident he'll be ready on opening day.

He's well aware the greater question involves who will join him - and how effective they will be.

"The good teams find ways to get it done," Jeter said. "That's what you have to do.